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June 10, 2010

G62: Spiders 8, Red Sox 7

The Red Sox were down to their last strike, trailing 6-5, but J.D. Drew was hit by a pitch and Adrian Beltre homered to left.

Daniel Bard loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth (4-pitch walk, double, 5-pitch walk), but then nearly escaped trouble. He struck out Travis Hafner looking and got Jhonny Peralta to foul out to catcher. But Russell Branyan blooped a hit over Dustin Pedroia into short right field -- Cleveland had two bloop hits in their sixth-inning rally, also -- and the Spiders won the game and split the series.

Bard's inability to throw strikes when he first came in could have been because of not having enough time to warmup or because he has been worked like a mule this season. (While still being our most effective reliever.) He has pitched in exactly half of Boston's 62 games (and six of June's 10 games). Among AL pitchers, only Tampa Bay's Randy Choate has pitched in more games (32). But the differences between the two pitchers is stark.

GMS INN BF PITChoate 32 16.1 70 247Bard 31 32.2 130 477

Bard has now pitched 32.2 innings, tied for the most among AL relievers, and before tonight, he was 6th in most pitches thrown.

June 10, 1944: Joe Nuxhall, at 15 years, 10 months and 11 days, becomes the youngest player in major league history when he pitches 0.2 of an inning for the Reds in an 18-0 loss to the Cardinals. Nuxhall: "Probably two weeks prior to that, I was pitching against seventh, eighth and ninth graders, kids 13 and 14 years old. All of a sudden, I look up and there's Stan Musial ..."

Red Sox Medical Director Dr. Tom Gill and Dr. Lewis Yocum issued the following statement today in regards to outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury:“An MRI of Jacoby’s thoracic spine and posterior rib area, recommended by us jointly, revealed a non-displaced rib fracture and edema in the left posterior-axillary line. This fracture, which is in a different area than the initial fractures and which was not present on previous scans, is likely the result of a new injury which occurred when Jacoby dove and impacted the ground during his brief return to play. Jacoby will require several weeks of rest and physical therapy.”

OK, as I'm typing that, Remy is praising him... but it seems to me like he always rounds too far and risks getting thrown out. Plus there have been a couple of times he's been thrown out @ Fenway misjudging balls off the Wall. It's like it seems awkward, but he always does it that way, I guess, like hitting homers from one knee or trampling outfielders.

remy likes that for sure. pressure on the other team, etc. (i thought it looked very risky to go to 2nd on that, but the play was not as close as it first seemed). has he been gunned out for being too agresssive?

There was one for sure, part of the 4-game sweep by the Rays in April, the one Garza pitched. It was the 5th inning and the first hit we got but then he was thrown out by a mile trying to stretch it to a double. I remember thinking, "The new guys can't read the Wall yet" because Hermida and Hall were having trouble fielding out there too. Maybe the impression of that one time has just lingered in my brain.

L-girl said...But why would he suddenly be scared and tentative? He's not usually, and he certainly couldn't be intimidated by the Cleveland lineup.

There's a difference between excuses and reasons, I think.

Do you think he walked Crowe, because he is being overused?

Or didn't have long enough to warmup?

He gave it up , and like I said he never looked comfortable, stepping off alot pacing around the mound ,rubbin his head.

Another point overlooked, although I didn't read the whole thread, we very rarely play a no double Defense late in games(remy mentioned it though), we are not having this conversation if Beltre is on the line...

Turns out Bard did not get up until Beltre's dong. He was absolutely rushed into the game. He said his mind was going a mile a minute when he got to the mound, he had not had a chance to settle down and get calm. Plus I did not look at the f/x data, but I recall he was being squeezed.

redsock said...Turns out Bard did not get up until Beltre's dong. He was absolutely rushed into the game. He said his mind was going a mile a minute when he got to the mound, he had not had a chance to settle down and get calm